Cossack Diplomacy at Work
Column: People's Diplomacy



In recent times, the international activity of Russian Cossacks has been fairly noticeable. In Russia itself the Cossacks became active already some 10-15 years ago, and everyone has got used to it. What is the reason for the flurry of activity? What forms does this activity take? Dmitry V. Isayenko , who is the foreign minister of the Union of Cossack Troops in Russia and Foreign Countries (SKVRiZ), and president of the Rusexport Consortium, answered Diplomat's questions.


Actually, our international activity began right from the day the Union of Cossack Troops in Russia and Foreign Countries came into existence. As a matter of fact, not only the Cossack troops of Russia but also those of the FSU (former Soviet Union--“the near abroad”) and foreign countries (“the far abroad”) have joined our organization: the troops of Ukraine, Belarus, Trans-Dnestr, Abkhazia, Serbia as well as those of America, Canada, and Australia. In the 1990s, our Union took part in settling the Moldovan-Trans-Dnestr and Abkhazian-Georgian conflicts. We are currently taking part in settling the conflict between South Ossetia and Georgia. The Kuban, Terek and Don Cossacks well know the customs and lifestyles of the Caucasus and the mentality of the people who live there. They will do their utmost to prevent an armed conflict. Of late, we have really been more actively dealing with international issues, so our work has probably become more noticeable. Just take the Feodosiya events in the Crimea. We resisted the separatists and at present the Ukrainians, Russians, Tatars and other people there feel better protected from infringements on their rights by them.


What did we do? In May 2006, more than 5,000 Cossacks gathered in the Crimea at the International Cossack Forum. They were all the Cossack troops of Russia--from Kamchatka to Kaliningrad--as well as those of the FSU and foreign countries. We held a religious procession, unveiled a monument to Andrew the First Called Apostle in Feodosiya and put up a plaque to General Denikin. We even managed to restore the monuments demolished by the separatists in the Crimea. There was a big concert of our Cossack culture. All the residents of the city were out on the square where the concert, which lasted all night, was taking place. It was not at all easy to organize that event. And yet, Cossacks, like a close-knit family, came on ferries, by water, rail, air, and in their cars.


We are now planning an even more large scale event. It is to take place in May 2007 in Feodosiya, Bakhchisaray, Simferopol and maybe also in Sevastopol, a city of Russian glory. Why are we so focused on the Crimea? It is because we, Cossacks, dearly love that place where countless ancestors of ours died in numerous wars and were buried in graves that we have begun putting in order.


We are also very concerned about the strained relations of Russia and Ukraine, countries where hundreds of thousands of Cossacks have lived for centuries and where their organizations are now at work. We have begun using methods of Cossack diplomacy in order to help Moscow and Kiev go from confrontation to economic and political cooperation. What kind of methods are they? Among the Cossacks there are politicians, MPs, military figures, big businessmen, and cultural figures. Ukraine's president, Yushchenko, is not just a Cossack, he is the hetman of the Ukrainian Cossacks. Last year, I attended an assembly of 20 atamans on Khortitsa Island, the birthplace of all Cossacks. They submitted “universals,” or agreed papers, to the hetman Yushchenko in which they had formulated their demands.


The Crimean and other events you mentioned took place in the so-called “near abroad” (former Soviet republics). Yet, the stripped trousers of Cossacks can more and more often be seen in “the far abroad” (foreign countries). Could you please tell about that?
I have just returned from the U.S. where I was on an official visit on behalf of Supreme Ataman V.P.Vodolatsky. There were many meetings with other Cossack atamans in different American cities. We discussed the problem of preserving our values in America and stepping up interaction on both Russian and American soil. I take this opportunity to express our gratitude to the U.S. government for helping keep our Cossack culture alive in the U.S.

Where are the main centers of Cossack culture in America?
One such center is located in the state of New Jersey where there is a museum of our Cossack memorabilia: banners, decorations, books, and photographs. The Kuban museum is kept in ideal condition, however, it was broken into and things taken a short while ago. Ataman Tsapenko managed to prevent everything from being stolen. An investigation is underway, and I hope all that was taken will be returned. Talks are now underway on turning over some relics that were bequeathed to us by our ancestors to the Russian Kuban Cossack Troops. The matter is that our forefathers bequeathed them to the city of Yekaterinodar. Period. Not to Krasnodar, a red city, but exactly to Yekaterinodar.

Back in 1994, in New Jersey I bowed, deeply moved, before the graves in a Cossack cemetery where 60 thousand of our Cossacks and many famous atamans are buried and where our glorious patriot Gen. Denikin was laid to rest. Our stanichniki, or countrymen, keep the graves in perfect order. In America there is a Zaporozhye stanitsa, a Kuban stanitsa and a Don stanitsa. I prayed at the renowned Cathedral of St. Vladimir. Order and discipline reign in all Cossack affairs. Cossacks of America and Canada not only preserve but also add to our cultural and spiritual values and are involved in the political life of the countries where our Cossack organizations function.

Where else have you been besides New Jersey?
I had a working meeting with the ataman of Boston where the Cossack community is actively engaged in business. It was very interesting and instructive to learn about their methods of organization, the reciprocal support of Cossack entrepreneurs, and their participation in common Cossack undertakings. I was also invited to attend a big Russian-American investment symposium at Harvard University. Our ataman of America and Canada and I said there that the Cossacks are a united people and that Cossack organizations around the world are a single organization-SKVRiZ- with shared spiritual, cultural and historical values.

As you can see, we are getting more active in other countries. Cossacks in Russia and remote countries alike are adding to our spiritual and cultural values. These values serve as a reliable bridge between the politicians and common people in Russia and those countries, between the countries with Cossack organizations and our great Russia. More and more issues worldwide are being resolved at the level of civil society. President Vladimir Putin recently spoke about this.

What is the size and structure of Cossack organizations in Russia and the rest of the world?
The Union of Cossack Troops of Russia and Foreign Countries was created in 1993. V.P. Vodolatsky, the ataman of the All-Great Don Troops and vice governor of the Rostov Region, assumed the leadership of SKVRiZ on September 9, 2005. Our legal status is that of an international non-governmental association. The Union unites all the Cossack organizations around the world, including both the registered Cossack organizations and grassroots groups. Millions of people living in many countries worldwide consider themselves Cossacks. There are 700,000 Cossacks in the Russian register alone, although the majority of Cossacks are not in the register. The registered Cossacks are in the Civil Service, they guard Russia's borders and natural resources and keep public order. Contracts were signed with the Ministry of Emergencies and the Command of the Border Troops. Agreements were signed with the Federal Forestry Service and the State Customs Committee. All these useful activities were made possible thanks to the Law of the Russian Federation “On the Civil Service of Russian Cossacks” signed by the President of Russia on December 5, 2005. By the way, President Putin himself is colonel of Cossack troops and is registered in the historic stanitsa Veshenskaya on the Don.

Now we need to complete the integration of all Cossack organizations in Russia, and in the FSU and foreign countries. For the moment, SKVRiZ unites 80 percent of such organizations. We also need to improve communications and better coordinate various forms of activity. What's more, we need to increase the efficiency of our economic activities.

How?
From time immemorial, the Cossacks have been self-sufficient, feeding themselves and going to war with their own horses and weapons. In spite of all the misfortunes and hardships that befell us in the 20th century, there are now quite a few clever and enterprising people among the Cossacks. They use their financial resources to revive the Cossack movement. For instance, I am the CEO of the Rusexport consortium (www.rusexport.ru). It is the world's only enterprise working with genuine oak trees no less than two thousand years old. All furniture, interior decoration materials and souvenirs made by Rusexport are, according to experts of the Culture Ministry and the Academy of Sciences, museum-level art objects. I find it only natural to spend part of the proceeds on funding SKVRiZ activities. I am happy to work with like-minded, courageous, intelligent, and noble people who are real Cossacks.